Officials Confirm Brazil Runoff Will Be Settled by Hand-Recount Endurance Match
If neither candidate clears 50%, Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro will reportedly be asked to recount every ballot themselves, out loud, until one of them can no longer go on.
Electoral officials announced Sunday night that if the gap between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro remains too close to call, the scheduled 25 October runoff will not involve printing a single new ballot. Instead, the two men will be seated at a folding table and handed the original stack to recount together, aloud, for as long as it takes.
"We feel this method is more efficient than holding a second vote," said a visibly tired election worker who declined to give his name, before returning to sort a pile of voided ballots by candidate's middle initial.
Observers from both campaigns will be permitted to bring snacks, blankets, and one motivational speaker each, though officials said the speaker may not use any word longer than three syllables, a rule added, they explained, purely in the interest of fairness.
Should the recount stretch past midnight on consecutive nights, officials confirmed the presidency will default to whichever candidate is still holding a pen.